In her quest for the Jules Verne around
the world trophy, Steve Fossett’s mega cat Cheyenne suffered
through three fluky and light air days, but is finally back in
the Atlantic trades some 1,000 miles south of the equator. Despite
the terrific slowdown, she’s still about 1,000 miles ahead of Orange’s record, as Orange was slowed in the same
area.
Mark Featherstone of Devon, UK, prepares to hoist a sail. Photo Nick Leggatt
Photos Courtesy www.fossettchallenge.com
Rival Olivier de Kersauson in the maxi
tri Geronimo, sailing two weeks behind Cheyenne,
is 500 miles – or about one day – off Cheyenne’s pace.
Anything can happen before it’s over, but right now things are
looking good for Fossett.
Fellow Californian Szabo Makes Move at
Cayard
March 26 – Miami, FL
Rich Roberts reports that day five of the
U.S. Olympic Star Class Trials on Biscayne Bay featured wet,
windy and nasty weather, two masts down and boats like bathtubs.
More of the same is due today (Friday), and Marinite Paul Cayard
is now looking at San Diegan George Szabo as his nearest threat.
Szabo and crew Mark Strube bagged their
second win in the last four races, the only boat to match Cayard
and crew Phil Trinter step for step lately as the trials reached
the midway mark of 16 races scheduled with three days remaining.
Szabo/Strube leapfrogged another San Diegan, Vince Brun, and
crew Mike Dorgan (10th Thursday) into second place, 12 points
behind Cayard/Trinter.
George Szabo/Mark Strube (7995) turn downwind ahead of Howie
Shiebler/Will Stout (8077) and Paul Cayard/Phil Trinter (8159).
A few minutes later Shiebler/Stout lost their mast as Szabo/Strube
went on to win.
Howie Shiebler, a San Francisco veteran
accustomed to similar conditions on SF Bay, and crew Will Stout
were close behind Szabo/Strube on the second downwind leg to
the finish. As they jibed, a puff rolled their boat and the whisker
pole dipped into the emerald water, throwing them out of control
and snapping their mast in the middle.
Vince Brun/Mike Dorgan sail past Howie Shiebler/Will Stout (right),
who have just broken their mast.
John Dane of New Orleans and crew Henry
Sprague, Long Beach, CA, saw their mast drop quietly over the
bow. “We didn’t make any mistake at all,” Sprague said.
“We were having a great race. We don’t know why it broke.
Funny, it’s very peaceful when it comes down – not even a snapping
sound.”
John Dane (left) and Henry Sprague clean up the damage after
their mast fell. Photos Rich Roberts
Dick Enersen writes, “Huge kudos to
Paul Cayard and Phil Trinter for their performance on Tuesday
in the Star Trials. [See our report in Wednesday’s
‘Lectronic.] To be able to replace a mast and then go out
and win two races is truly impressive. It should be noted,
just for historical interest, that their accomplishment is not
without precedent. In the 1972 Olympics, sailed in Kiel, the
great Brazilian Finn sailor Joerg Bruder competed in the
Star Class. On the way out of the harbor, Bruder and his crew
Jan Aten snagged a shroud on a piling and brought the rig
down on their heads. They calmly got the boat back to the dock,
brought down a spare mast, stepped it, rigged it and sailed out
to win that day’s race. We at St. Francis YC are enormously proud
of Paul, and all our Olympic class sailors, and wish him, and
Phil, all the best for the rest of the regatta, and beyond.”
Lowell North and Peter Barrett also reportedly
unstepped and restepped their mast during a major Star class
event.
25th Anniversary Cruise Continues
March 26 – St. Barth, FWI
This has been the best winter of our life,
which we attribute almost entirely to our 25th Anniversary Cruise
to the Caribbean with Profligate. We’ve been able to spend
about half the time on the cat and half the time back home working.
The two biggest things we’ve noticed: 1) There are so many layers
of stress back in the States, particularly California, that we
don’t think most people appreciate it. 2) Northern California
has become one of the most arrogant, know-it-all, narrow-minded,
orthodox places we can think of. Here in the Caribbean, there’s
a greater sense of freedom, and among the international cruisers,
a much greater diversity of opinions and willingness to appreciate
the differing views of others.
Alas, the cruise is not far from being
over. Early next week we set sail for Anguilla and the British
Virgins, the latter where we’ll participate in the BVI Spring
Festival. It’s been years since we’ve been back to the British
Virgins, and we can’t wait. Pyewacket will be there, too,
with Latitude 38 Racing Editor Rob Moore aboard. So look
forward to a firsthand report from that revolutionary racing
yacht in the May issue.
After this month’s adventure, we return
to the boat in Antigua at the end of April for a day or two of
Antigua Sailing Week, then the 1,100-mile trip to Panama, followed
by the delivery back to California. Antigua is going to be great,
as the racing fleet is shaping up to be one of the best in years,
with both the MaxZ86s, the new record-blasting 144-ft Mari-Cha, and many others. The Wanderer has an invite to race on a
90+ R/P, and can’t wait for confirmation and the event itself.
You know how most folks hunger for the approach of summer? We
hunger for the approach of winter, which to us is the start of
the cruising season in the tropics.
The airport on St. Barth Photo Latitude/Richard
As many of you know, the airport here at
St. Barth is tricky and has a very short runway, bookended by
a ridge and the ocean. While waiting for a sailing friend’s plane
to take off, we watched a small, private twin engine plane try
to land. The pilot freaked out halfway into the first attempt,
when he could have landed easily. On the second attempt, he came
in way too high, slapped the plane down on the runway, but was
going too fast. He overshot the runway and ended up on the sand
of beautiful beach at Baie St. John. With the plane disabled
at the end of the runaway, the commercial flight with our friend
aboard started their take-off . . . but quickly realized that
something was wrong. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the incident.
But talk about the walk of shame! A mother and her two young
children had to walk up the very visible runway, with hundreds
of curious people watching, while her husband and the firemen
busied themselves with towing the plane out of the sand and back
to the terminal. We can only imagine the hell hubby was going
to catch that night.
